Ministry of Youth affairs and Sports in India has launched Khelo India Programme. Under this Khelo India Scheme, govt. will provide training to the athletes and their coaches to raise their performance at the international level (Olympics). These games will be the best tournament organized at the school, college or university level. The central govt. had spent Rs. 1756 crore on this revamped Khelo India scheme for the period 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.
Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore (Minister of State, I/C) announced that Central govt. is going to select 1000 athletes under ‘Pan Indian Sports Scholarship Scheme’. Moreover, govt. will provide financial assistance and resources of up to Rs 5 Lakh for 8 years. In addition to this, govt. will add 1000 athletes in every upcoming year. Subsequently, the primary objective of this scheme is to promote “Sports for All”.
This program aims at mainstreaming sports for the development of individuals, community, economy and thus promote national development. As per the statement, this will mark a ‘Watershed Movement’ in the history of sports. This scheme will cover around 200 million children in the age group of 10-18 years.
Components of Khelo India Programme
There are 12 important components of Khelo India Programme which are specified below:-
| Play Field Development | Community Coaching Development | State Level Khelo India Centres |
| Annual Sports Competitions | Talent Search and Development | Utilization and Creation / Upgradation of Sports Infrastructure |
| Support to National/Regional/State Sports Academies | Physical Fitness of School going Children | Sports for Women |
| Promotion of Sports among persons with disabilities (PWDs) | Sports for Peace and Development | Promotion of rural and indigenous/tribal games |
Eligibility Criteria for Khelo India Programme
Khelo India Programme is a national yojana/scheme for the development of sports in India. It was launched in the year 2018 by the then Sports Minister Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore in Delhi. This program has been launched to improve the sports culture in India. The eligibility criteria for the Khelo India program is given below:
- Candidates below the age of 17 can participate in the under-17 category.
- Candidates below the age of 21 can participate in the under-21 category.
What are the Objectives of Khelo India Programme
Aimed at mainstreaming sports as a tool for national development, economic development, community development and individual development, the Union Cabinet approved the execution of the revamped ‘Khelo India’ program by consolidating the ‘Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan’ (formerly called the ‘Yuva Krida & Khel Abhiyan’), the ‘Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme’ and the National Sports Talent Search System Programme’. The program strives to promote “Sports for Excellence” as well as “Sports for All”. Here are the main objectives of Khelo India Programme launched by the central government:-
- It will be a Central Sector Scheme (Scheme implemented by the Central Government machinery and 100% funding by the Union Government).
- It is a Pan India Sports Scholarship scheme covering the 1000 most deserving and talented athletes across the sports discipline, every year.
- Selected athletes will be entitled to a scholarship amount of Five Lakh Rupees for eight consecutive years.
- It is an unprecedented scheme, a first-ever plan to be implemented for creating a long-term development pathway for athletes.
- To enable the sportsman to pursue both studies and sports, the program aims at identifying and promoting 20 Universities in the country as centres of sporting distinction.
- For sports promotion, the latest user-friendly technology would be used. Ex: Geographic Information System (GIS) for locating the sports infrastructure, a user-friendly website for indigenous sports, a National Sports Talent Search Portal and information dissemination for sports training through mobile apps.
- To ensure maximum entries for organized sports competitions, the programme encourages the school and colleges to organize programmes of high standards.
- Forming an active population with a healthy lifestyle is also the focus of this programme. For this purpose, a National Physical Fitness Drive is planned where children falling in the age bracket 10-18 years will be checked for physical fitness. Further, activities to support their physical fitness will be planned.
- The aim is to impact the whole of the sports ecosystem inclusive of the sports economy, competition structure, talent identification, coaching and infrastructure.
- The programme plans to engage youth living in deprived and disturbed areas into sporting activities so that they will be mainstreamed into the process of nation-building and weaned away from disruptive activities.
Need for Khelo India Programme
The importance of sports and fitness in one’s life is invaluable. Playing sports inculcates team spirit, develops strategic & analytical thinking, leadership skills, goal setting and risk taking. A fit and healthy individual leads to an equally healthy society and strong nation. Sports is an extremely important component for the overall development of our nation. India, in the last few years has made steady progress in the field of sports. This tremendous potential needs to be showcased at a global platform. It’s time we inspire young talent, give them top-notch infrastructure and training of the highest level.
We need to inculcate a strong spirit of participation in sports that enables players to demonstrate their true potential. Only then can India realise its dream of becoming a sports super power. The Khelo India programme has been introduced to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a great sporting nation.
Launch Date – Khelo India Programme Started in Which Year
Khelo India National Programme for Development of Sports, branded as Khelo India (or Play India), aims at improving India’s sports culture at the grass-root level through organized talent identification, structured sporting competitions and infrastructure development. It is a Government of India programme launched in 2016-17 under the tenure Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sports Minister’s Vijay Goel and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. Khelo India Programme would involve games such as Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Football, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Kabaddi, Kho-Kho, Shooting, Swimming, Volleyball, Weightlifting, and Wrestling.
Games Structure in Khelo India Programme
- Khelo India University Games (KIUG) – Check Details
- Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) – Check Details
- Khelo India School Games (KISG)
- KISCE Khelo India States List – Check Details
- Khelo India Mobile App – Download
Highlights of Khelo India Programme (For Athletes)
The important features and details of this Revamped Khelo India Scheme are as follows:-
- These are the best tournament for students of school level, college level or university level.
- This revamped Khelo India Programme will impact the entire ecosystem of sports which will include community sports, development of infrastructure, talent identification, special coaching and competition.
- This scheme will provide an appropriate environment for athletes so that they can focus on their preparation without any hurdle.
- Khelo India campaign will promote 150 Schools and 20 Universities as central hub for sporting excellence.
- Govt. will select 1000 athletes every year and will provide them an annual scholarship of Rs 5,00,000 for 8 years and will also track their performance. In addition to this, 1000 athletes will get added every year.
- The scheme will target the 2024 and 2028 Olympics and will provide specialized training to the spotted talents to become medal winners. Moreover, this will also create amazing bench strength for multiple sports.
Khelo India Programme for Coaches
This program will also provide training to the coaches. Central govt. will focus on professionalism, responsibility and accountability for promotion of sports. Subsequently, this scheme will upgrade the skills of coaches on a regular basis to create several coaches for different games. Union Govt. will hire high performance managers to take care of the athletes. These hired coaches will give report to the ministry on the progress of the athletes at regular intervals.
The Central govt. previously launched Khelo India Scheme for Infrastructure development. But now the central govt. will focus on imparting specialized training to the athletes and coaches under Khelo India School Games. This scheme will give opportunities for playing, identification of the talent and will create multiple levels of competition.
References
For more information of Khelo India Pogramme, please see the link given below – https://yas.nic.in/sites/default/files/Khelo%20India-%20National%20Programme%20for%20Development%20of%20Sports%20Scheme.-ilovepdf-compressed.pdf